A few months ago we welcomed a new senior couple to our mission: the Nielsons.
When we first met them over dinner, we were chatting about our lives. One of the questions they asked was where we’d come from. We said Montana, but actually we’d spent many years in Colorado, where we’d raised our kids. Where in Colorado? they asked. Near Denver. Suburbs? Yeah, north of Boulder. Longmont, to be specific. (We find that most people have never heard of Longmont, but many know of Boulder and even more know of Denver… so we typically work in that order depending on how familiar they are with Colorado.) But prior to Longmont, we mentioned, we’d lived in Superior. And before that, Aurora. At that they perked up. Aurora? Where? Oh, you know Aurora? Well, we were down by Chambers and Parker. That’s where we live!
It turns out they attend the Piney Creek Ward… the first ward we attended as a couple, after getting married in 1996! Moreover, they showed us their house on a map and it’s about two blocks from the townhome where we lived. Oh, and their daughter babysat Alex and Kyra a couple of times. Whoa. What felt really strange was we really had no recollection of them at all. But we know the same people (still living there), and some of them continue receiving our annual Christmas cards.
It’s been nearly three decades, and we’re a thousand miles from Aurora, but here we are, serving missions together. It’s a small world indeed.